Are you too acidic?

01.17.12

If you have read my blog, you’ve probably have heard me mention things about being alkaline versus acidic. I think having a good diet and eating whole foods, is just as important as being alkaline and here’s why.

What does it mean to be acidic?

Having an acidic (or low oxygen) body encourages the breeding of fungus, mold, bacteria and viruses. Also, being acidic, your body is going to excrete out calcium and other minerals versus absorbing them. And even more important, according to the National Cancer Institute, as much as 80 percent of all cancers are due to identified factors, and thus are potentially preventable. It is estimated that only 5 to 10 percent of all cancer cases are inherited and as much as 35 to 50 percent are due to foods. Cancer thrives in an acidic environment, and can’t live in an alkaline environment.

In addition to causing some pretty serious issues, being acidic can also cause symptoms such as:

You could probably guess it, but eating things like sugar, caffeine, processed foods, and grains produce acidity in our bodies. Vegetables (and fruits) are the most alkaline so be sure to balance some meat (some meats are acidic) with your veggies to be more alkaline. It is recommended that our diet be 80% alkaline to 20% acid and at the very least 60/40. Here is a comprehensive list of alkaline/acidic foods.

How do we know if we are acidic?

I use test strips you can get from amazon. You can go to “My Favorite Things” in the menu bar to see which I use or recommend. They are very simple to do and when used like a pregnancy test, the results tend to be more accurate. That is what I do with the ones below and think they work fairly well, but the two I mentioned about got much better reviews.

What if I do that and I’m still acidic?

I eat really well, for the most part, but last year I was still constantly acidic and couldn’t figure it out why. I was so frustrated but turns out, things like autoimmune diseases, especially one of the gut, can affect your ph level. So I began to research things that could help and this is what I learned. Baking soda (yes, just the same stuff that is in Alka Seltezer and Tums), apple cider vinegar all have 2 things in common. One, you can ingest them, and two, they are all super alkaline, so I came up with a special recipe. Now, this is definitely not one of my tastier things I make, but I use to drink this every morning and you know what, I finally became alkaline, within days!

Here’s what I would make:

Use 1/8 tsp (to start, work your way up to 1/4 slowly as this can cause upset stomach) baking soda, and mix with 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar and stir. Then add about 2 cups of water, mix together and bottoms up!

Alright, these guys aren’t helping me on this at all. It’s bad, but it’s not that bad. It was well worth it to me. Anyway, if this is too much for, you can also use baking soda and lemon juice. Even though the lemons (and limes) are acidic, our bodies digest them as an alkaline. So, you could even just do lemon or lime juice in your water. That’s easy enough, right? Either way, talk about a power drink!

Chris Colwell -this is great Landria. I love all the recipes, but the education is very important to me as well. Good stuff to know, and I do like lemon in hot water in the morning….it kind of gets you going in more ways than one!ReplyCancel

Susan -Per your suggestion this am, I just measured my ph and I am 5.5! I’ve been having headaches, feeling exhausted and experiencing allergy-like symptoms for two months now. I have some Braggs so it looks like I’ll add an apple cider vinegar cocktail to my vegetable menu.

landriav -No way! 5.5??! Try to do it 2-3 times a day at first. And then try to just add in some lemon in your water. Easy to do and tastes good too! You’ll have to let me know if it helps! 🙂 See you Monday!ReplyCancel